GTG Kodiak
|barrel= |weight= |justweight= |width= |height= |magazine=5-round cylinder |cycle= |effective= |range= |velocity= |usedby= }}The GTG Kodiak is a large-caliber single-action revolver chambered in .600 Nitro Express made by German gunsmith Franz-Josef Peters (A.K.A. Joe Peters).World's Largest Revolver on YouTubehttp://weaponsman.com/?p=29684 History The creation of the Pfeifer Zeliska revolver in .458 Winchester Magnum in 1995 likely influenced Joe Peters to design a large caliber revolver himself. Peters originally wanted to design a revolver in .460 Weatherby, but later dropped the idea (the .460 Weatherby actually couldn't be used in revolvers as it is a necked cartridge). After someone joked to Peters about making a revolver in the .600 Nitro Express big game cartridge, Peters decided to actually design a revolver in .600 Nitro Express.Aicher, Hans: Der Gigant. GTG Kodiak .600 Nitro Express. In. Deutsches Waffen Journal, 9/1996, S. 1382-1387 The Kodiak was designed using CAD in 1995, and a functional prototype was made in 1996. The first CAD designs resembled a Smith & Wesson revolver, but an original design was came up soon after. After four months of design, a prototype was built for testing, and it was concluded that only small details need to be adjusted for the production revolver. The Kodiak's design originally aimed for a 6-round cylinder with a 76mm cylinder diameter. The final design had a 5-round cylinder and a 63mm cylinder diameter. The compensator was not in the original design, and was added after early firing tests. There were considerations of multi-caliber capabilities, which was implemented with a .458 Winchester conversion kit. The Kodiak was intended for a limited production run of 99 revolvers in the later half of 1996. Design The frame and cylinder are made from a high spec tool steel called 50CrV4, and the barrels are made from the Böhler Antinit steel. The frame is cut out from a 36mm thick steel plate. The .458 barrels uses the Peters Polygonal rifling, while the .600 NE barrels uses conventional groove rifling, forged in Ferlach, Austria. The cylinder is fluted, but still weighs 1310g (1670g in .458). The cylinder stop locks into the rear of the cylinder like on a Colt Lightning revolver, locking into oval cutouts between the cylinder bores. The hammer is 10mm wide and skeletonized. The trigger has an adjustable weight of 1200g. A transfer bar between the trigger assembly and the hammer bridges the unusually long gap between the two. The screwed-in barrel has a 24mm outer diameter and is tensioned with a specialized muzzle nut. The octagonal barrel jacket can be fitted with the barrel muzzle nut and the compensator. The rail underneath the barrel jacket locks it to the cylinder axis, and also houses the ejector rod. By twisting the jacket to the right, the ejector rod lines up the chamber used for ejection. The iron sights are LPA TRT sights, with 357mm distance in between. The prototype also has an unusable decorative sight rail. The prototype has no safety, which is expected to be added later to address legal and technical issues. The large grips of the Kodiak come from Thompson Contender grips, which included a Pachmayr variant. See Also * Pfeifer Zeliska *PSDR References Category:Revolvers